Kef 107/105 Screens

SimplySound

SimplySound

Kent Engineering & Fondry
Folks,

I've seen a lot of 105 and 107's with and without the screens on the mid-range and tweeter. Did they generally fall off and people then tossed them? Or were they added later in the build range (which I doubt)?

Look below and you will see two Ref 107 Series1's with and without screens. Both are sub-1300 SN.

Now here's my BIG questions, does not having the screens impact the dispersion and imaging at all (which I doubt)? Does it improve it and is that why they were removed? Can they be replaced?

I'm considering a set of R107's and am just curious about all of this.

Thanks,

Simply
 

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Just a thought , those screens look tricky in a sense that , maybe people took them off at one point and could never get them back on ? Thats purely a shot in the dark. Could be people just lost them after taking them off , they are quite little after all.

Personally , I have most of my speakers' grilles off . Sounds better to me but could very well be a placebo effect ( me thinking they will sound better with them off makes them actually sound better with them off ) hehe Sorry if none of this helped
 
Wolfwood said:
Just a thought , those screens look tricky in a sense that , maybe people took them off at one point and could never get them back on?
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the glue dries out, the vibrations of the head unit causes them to fall off and then people chuck 'em. I'm just wondering if they made any impact on the beautiful dispersion Kefs are known for.

I'm thinkin' no, they were just on there to protect the drivers. Thought I'd ask though and thanks for the input!
 
As far as I know, their function is purely protective. The screens are so open that they would not have a significant effect on dispersion for the drivers they cover. These are expensive speakers and if no head covers are used, then the kids and tweets are vulnerable to kid and adult finger pokes.

True also is they are sometime very hard to put back on once removed or heavily dented. You could query KEF USA or KEF UK to see if they may have replacements.
 
mech986 said:
As far as I know, their function is purely protective. The screens are so open that they would not have a significant effect on dispersion for the drivers they cover. These are expensive speakers and if no head covers are used, then the kids and tweets are vulnerable to kid and adult finger pokes.

True also is they are sometime very hard to put back on once removed or heavily dented. You could query KEF USA or KEF UK to see if they may have replacements.
Click to expand...

Mine just pop on and off. They have never fallen off since I've owned them ( 10 years). They may have originally been glued, but I don't see any indication of that.

Ray
 
The screens were never glued in place, they hold quite well on their own. They are slightly tricky to get back on, but not too bad. Considering many buyers could not keep track of the KUBE when they moved around it is no surprise screens go missing.

The fellow who was our Kef rep was one of the best in the business and I asked him if the screens should be removed as I normally did with most speakers before doing a demo. He said absolutely not, they were designed to have a flat response with them in place. Maybe it was my imagination, but I definitely thought they sounded a little better without them. I recently found a pair of 105 for a friend and he and his wife both thought they sounded better with them off.

I removed them from my 107 a while back and prefered them that way. When the two new kittens showed up the screens went back on and have stayed there. The difference is not nearly worth the risk as both now like to perch on top of the heads now and then .
 
Good stuff guys, and thanks Raynald for your qualified input! I love Audiokarma! Now let me interject a few more questions. How hard is it to inspect the woofer surrounds on the 107's? I assume you can peer in from the top opening?

I'm looking at buying a set and obviously would like to check the surround conditions.

Also, I need to transport them home. They will be resting horizontally in the back of my SUV for the couple hours of interstate driving I'll have to do. I know I run a risk of damaging the surrounds this way, but I'm thinking that if I wrap them well and place them on foam to try to minimize road vibrations, they should get back home OK. Thoughts?
 
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They would be just fine laying flat for several hours. Just make sure you buckle them properly so they don't topple over in case you break hard.
 
Woofer Inspection, nothing visible through the top opening:

http://www.audiocamp.net/data/market/1197089233/market_224_38286_1.jpg

Top- Renove head. Gently pry off the fabric covered panel on top. I forget in detail after that, there may be another panel that needs to be removed

Bottom- Again, I forget if you need to remove the feet first, but you remove screws and pry off bottom panel.

The panels may be tight as they are closely fitted with a gasket as I recall.

Best done lying on its side, that way if you do disloge crumbling foam from the donuts, it wont fall straight into the voice coil. Learned that the hard way with a pair of 103.3!
 
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